General Mills Confirms Closure of New Jersey Soup Plant

General Mills on Monday confirmed that it will close a southern New Jersey plant and lay off about 370 workers by next summer.

The Minnesota food company originally announced the closure of the Vineland facility, which makes Progresso soups, in July, pending discussions with union officials at the plant.

"Those negotiations are now complete, and the company ... will begin the review of necessary processes to transition production to other U.S. facilities," General Mills said in a statement.

The plant's closure was announced as part of a global restructuring, which also included reduced operations in Brazil and China and the sale of a dry baking mix products plant in Ohio.

United Food & Commercial Workers Local 152 President Brian String told The Philadelphia Inquirer that workers attempted to meet the General Mills' cost savings requirements, but he suggested that the company "had already made up its mind" about the plant's fate in July.

"This was never about labor costs, but their desire to cut soup capacity, and they were going to find a way to do it," String said.